BEAT THE SYSTEM
‘I got a Waitrose coffee for 1p, and you can too’ Blogger finds way around changes to free hot drink deal
Waitrose customers must now buy something before they can claim a free hot drink
A MONEY blogger has found a clever way around the changes made to the Waitrose free hot drink deal.
Yesterday, the supermarket announced that it was ditching its free tea and coffee offer for customers, unless they buy something first.
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From April 3, customers will have to make a purchase in store before they can claim the freebie.
But Andy Webb, 37, has demonstrated how people can get their free hot drink at the posh supermarket for just 1p.
The Londoner went to his closest store to see how little he could spend to get the free drink.
At first, he thought the cheapest item he could pick up would probably be a cheap chocolate bar, but after entering the store and walking past the fruit and veg aisle, it was clear that buying loose fruit or veg would be the cheapest option.
He initially picked up a loose “essential” white onion. At 75p per kg he got the smallest one he could find and put it on the weighing scales.
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At a cost of 13p he believed he was onto a winner, but he quickly spotted a shelf of Fairtrade bananas.
These were slightly cheaper at 72p per kg, with a single banana just 8p.
Eager to do one better, the part-time money blogger, who runs and regularly posts , picked up a loose brussel sprout, which came to just 3p.
Still in the veg section, Webb cast his eye across the stand with the loose cup mushrooms.
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At £2.85 per kg they were the most expensive of all the veg he had weighed, but he found a mushroom so small, and so light, that the the sticker printed out a price of just 1p.
Andy said: "I'm a fan of the MyWaitrose card, and I don't have a problem with the rule change.
"But I do like a money saving challenge, so I headed out to find the cheapest item on sale at the supermarket.
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"Fresh fruit and veg turned out to be the lowest priced, and I found a tiny loose mushroom for just 1p. Buy one of those and you can get your hot drink for next to nothing.
"The best buy though is to get something you'll actually want to eat, with bananas around 8p."
Many shoppers speculated that buying a 5p carrier bag would be the cheapest way to get a free hot drink, but the MyWaitrose terms and conditions state that these plastic bags don’t count, as this would be contrary to the spirit of the legislation, which is aimed at driving down the use of single use carriers bags.
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Waitrose sent an email to customers yesterday morning about the new hot drink policy, and told the Sun Online that this was not a major change, but a “refinement” on how the offer works.
MyWaitrose has more than 6million members, and some have reacted angrily at the news, saying they will no longer shop in store because of the change.
Martin Lane, managing editor of Money.co.uk said that for genuine customers, “nothing really changes – it’s only the freeloaders who will suffer, so it’s win-win for the Waitrose tribe.”
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